play efficiently the part which has always been assigned to them, both offensive and defensive, in the military system of the empire.  But to go back to the expansion of the regular army.  We want more men—­men of the best fighting quality, and if for a moment the number who offer themselves and are accepted should prove to be in excess of those who can at once be adequately trained and equipped, do not let them doubt that prompt provision will be made for the incorporation of all willing and able men in the fighting forces of the kingdom.  We want, first of all, men, and we shall endeavor to secure them.  Men desiring to serve together shall, wherever possible, be allotted to the same regiment or corps.  The raising of battalions by counties or municipalities with this object will be in every way encouraged.  But we want not less urgently a larger supply of ex-non-commissioned officers, and the pick of the men with whom in past days they served, men, therefore, whom in most cases we shall be asking to give up regular employment and to return to the work of the State, which they alone are competent to do.  The appeal we make is addressed quite as much to their employers as to the men themselves.  The men ought to be absolutely assured of reinstatement in their business at the end of the war. [Cheers.] Finally, there are numbers of commissioned officers now in retirement who are much experienced in the handling of troops and have served their country in the past.  Let them come forward, too, and show their willingness, if need be, to train bodies of men for whom at the moment no cadre or unit can be found.

Abundant Ground for Pride and Confidence.

I have little more to say.  Of the actual progress of the war I will not say anything, except that in my judgment in whatever direction we look there is abundant ground for pride and for confidence. [Cheers.] I say nothing more, because I think we should all bear in mind that we are at present watching the fluctuations of fortune only in the early stages of what is going to be a protracted struggle.  We must learn to take long views, and to cultivate, above all, other faculties—­those of patience, endurance, and steadfastness.  Meanwhile, let us go, each of us, to his or her appropriate place in the great common task.  Never had a people more or richer sources of encouragement and inspiration.  Let us realize, first of all, that we are fighting as a united empire, in a cause worthy of the highest traditions of our race.  Let us keep in mind the patient and indomitable seamen, who never relax for a moment, night or day, their stern vigil of the lonely sea.  Let us keep in mind our gallant troops, who today, after a fortnight’s continuous fighting under conditions which would try the metal of the best army that ever took the field, maintain not only an undefeated but an unbroken front. [Cheers.] Finally, let us recall the memories of the great men and the great deeds of the past, commemorated, some of them,